Pro Wrestling Guerrilla returned to their home in Los Angeles, Calif., on Aug. 6, 2006. PWG likes to pick some goofy names for its shows, and this one is dubbed "Zombies Shouldn't Run." PWG runs its shows in what appears to be an elementary school gym.

The crowd is about 300, and the PWG fans are always hot and into the action. However, the lighting isn't great here; the view from the hard camera is a bit dark, but the ringside 'fan cams' look good. I purchased a tape of this event, which does not have commentary. The DVDs have the option to turn on commentary.

One thing I really don't like about PWG shows is they cut entrances to the ring. PWG officials have explained to me that they don't want to pay rights to play music in the background, so they cut the intros altogether. I really think cutting the intros takes away from the event. In this case, the show ends IMMEDIATELY after a title change in the main event... leaving the viewer a bit shortchanged.

(6) Super Dragon defeats Quicksilver at 24:37. Good match. Dragon immediately went to work on the left leg, and he tied up Quicksilver's legs. This was slow early. Quicksilver applied a cross-armbreaker. Dragon hit a spine kick and a shoulder tackle. Quicksilver came back with a headscissorslock. Dragon hit a doublestomp on the back. Quicksilver hit a nice dive over the top rope to the floor, landing in the chairs, at 4:30. On the floor, Quicksilver hit some chops and forearms. In the ring, Quicksilver was still in charge, nailing a basement dropkick to the back of the head, and he was being cocky, in a babyface way. Quicksilver went for a springboard move, but Super Dragon caught him with an open-hand slap to the face.

Super Dragon unloaded some chops, forearms, and a hard backhand slap to the face. He choked Quicksilver. On the floor, Dragon hit a hard chop at 8:00. In the ring, they traded more chops, and Dragon missed a Kawada Kick in an awkward moment. Dragon hit a nice back suplex, and he tied up the left leg. He applied a butterfly submission hold on Quicksilver's arms, but Quicksilver made it to the ropes. Super Dragon tied Quicksilver in the Tree of Woe, and did the 'Oh Canada' groin stomp. Super Dragon applied a Figure Four at 15:00, and the crowd let out a Flair "Woo!" Quicksilver made it to the ropes.

Quicksilver hit a snapmare driver for a nearfall, then a nice springboard forearm for a nearfall. They fought on the top turnbuckle; Super Dragon hit a headbutt, knocking Quicksilver down, and Super Dragon immediately hit a senton splash, and they were both down at 19:00. Super Dragon hit a German Suplex and a buttefly suplex for a nearfall, and the crowd rallied behind Quicksilver. Quicksilver hit a reverse headscissors takedown for a believable nearfall at 21:00.

Quicksilver hit a flip, off the top rope, to the floor, drawing a "holy sh--" chant. He rolled Dragon in the ring and he got a believable nearfall. They fought on the top turnbuckle, and Super Dragon hit a sideslam for a nearfall. The crowd was hot! Super Dragon nailed the Psycho Driver/modified piledriver for the pin. This match started slow, but was awesome in the final minutes. ***1/4

(7) Human Tornado & El Generico defeat Scott Lost & Chris Bosh at 16:53 to retain the tag titles. Bosh got on the mic and said that Lost got pinned in their last match because he was too exhausted from having sex all night. The heels jumped the faces, but the faces hit simultaneous dropkicks and cleared the ring. Generico and Lost started, with Generico hitting his cool variety of armdrags. Human Tornado got in, and he hit a nice headscissors, then a hard spinning enziguri for a nearfall. Generico chopped Bosh.

Bosh avoided a Mafia Kick and he hit a low blow at 4:30. The heels began to work over Generico. Lost hit a spin kick for a nearfall. The heels made some illegal tags. Lost pulled Generico to the floor, and he gave him a suplex on the floor. Bosh hit a nice headscissors takedown to the floor on Genrico. He tossed Generico into the chairs, and he slammed Generico's head repeatedly against a wall! In the ring, Lost missed a spear, and he landed on the floor. Generico made the hot tag to Human Tornado at 9:30, and Tornado hit a Monty Brown Pounce on Lost. Bosh hit a backbreaker over his knee on Tornado.

Generico hit a moonsault on Lost, who was tied in the ropes. Generico then went to the top turnbuckle and he hit a moonsault to the floor on Bosh! Human Tornado immediately dove over the top rope onto the heels, deep into the crowd, at 11:30, and the crowd chanted, "PWG!" In the ring, Human Tornado hit an inverted DDT on Bosh. Lost hit a top-rope elbow drop on Tornado for a nearfall. Lost put the two faces on top of each other, and in a cool spot, he put them in a double sharpshooter, and the crowd popped.

Genercio hit a basement dropkick on Bosh, then he nailed the Mafia Kick in the corner at 15:00. Tornado hit a Plant DDT on Lost for a nearfall. Generico hit a flip powerbomb on Bosh, and all four were down. The crowd sang the "Ole" song to rally Generico. Generico hit a brainbuster on Lost, and Human Tornado covered Lost for the pin. Another very good match. ***1/2

(8) Kevin Steen defeats A.J. Styles at 18:56 to win the PWG heavyweight title. Good match, but not the best on this card. Steen attacked Styles, hitting a European Uppercut and a shoulder tackle. Styles hit a flying forearm off the apron to the floor. Styles hit a spine kick on the floor, then some field goal kicks and stiff forearms. In the ring, Styles hit a backbreaker over his knee, then the big standing dropkick to the face for a nearfall at 3:00.

Styles applied a Muta Lock, cranking on Steen's head, then he twisted Steen's knee. Steen choked A.J. in the ropes, and he hit a neckbreaker on the second rope for a nearfall. He repeatedly kicked and punched at the back of Styles' neck, and he shouted a warning, "stop hitting my knee!" Styles fought back with the Kip-up Rana, but Steen immediately took control again, hitting a nice back suplex for a nearfall and a flip guillotine legdrop for a nearfall at 10:30. Someone began chanting "overrated" at Steen, so more fans began chanting "Mr. Wrestling."

They traded chops and forearms, and Styles hit an enziguri. Styles hit the Phenomenon/backflip-into-inverted DDT, and Steen bailed to the floor. In the ring, Styles hit a pumphandle back suplex, then a pumphandle backbreaker for a nearfall. Steen went for the Package Piledriver, but Styles escaped it. Steen wrapped A.J. around his back and he hit a sideslam for a nearfall at 15:30. Styles came back with a nice standing neckbreaker. Steen pulled the ref down on top of him as a shield, but then he hit Styles with a low blow.

Steen hit a Gorilla Press Gutbuster over his knees for a believable nearfall. Steen nailed his top-rope moonsault for a believable nearfall. Steen was sitting on the top turnbuckle when A.J. nailed him with the Pele Kick at 18:30. Styles hooked Steen for the Styles Clash, but Steen reached out and grabbed the ropes to escape; Steen immediately rolled up Styles, held onto the ropes for leverage, and scored the pin to win the title. ***

Final thoughts: Running time 2 hours, 49 minutes. There is a lot to like about this PWG show. Romero-Richards was great, Daniels-Hero was strong, and the tag title match was hot. I thought Super Dragon vs. Quicksilver started a bit too slow, because they knew they had a long match, but it really finished hot. The main event was good, but not as good as the above mentioned four.

I stated my main complaint at the top. It would be nice to have the entrance music before and after the matches. It was really too bad the show ended so abruptly right after Steen's title win. The title switch hadn't even 'sunk in' to viewers before the show was over. By not showing the footage -- not making a 'big deal' out of the title change, I think PWG has conditioned fans to not care about title changes. (But another one of PWG's problems is that the title belts are hot potatoes. Seriously, how many teams held the tag titles this year in PWG?)

PWG has some strong wrestling, and they had a standout year. I wish they would add some serious commentary and invest money to improve the lighting of their ring. But the wrestling is great, the crowd is hot and knowledgeable and into all the action, and the shows are enjoyable to watch.

ChrisV wrote:[b] (But another one of PWG's problems is that the title belts are hot potatoes. Seriously, how many teams held the tag titles this year in PWG?)

That used to be one of PWG's problems... but not so much lately. PWG in 2005 only had 3 tag title changes (and four teams hold the belts, Arrogance, AXP, 2SBG and SD/Davey) Compare that to ROH in 2005, which had 6 or 7 tag title changes... and PWG looks pretty darn good.

I didn't mind the wrestling portion of the review, but the entire portions about the music and commentary annoyed me. You mentioned how PWG said they didn't want to pay for the rights to the songs(and rightfully so, because they are probably really expensive) but still went on a gripe about the music issue, and it came off badly on your part. The commentary stuff annoyed me aswell. The charm about PWG DVDs is mostly how fans get the chance to watch an event with commentary that's fresh, funny, and enlightening at the same time. Serious commentary gets pretty stale after awhile.

The comments about the title changes in PWG wasn't the right thing to say, as the tag titles have only changed three times in 2005. The fans care about title changes, and it's very evident at the live shows. Although you can't tell that on the DVDs, which is something you can blame on the music stuff. The complaints in your review overshadowed the positives and where about minor details. Still, not a bad review. I just could of done with the pointless criticisms and would of liked to have seen more thoughts on the matches instead of random highlights.

They are indeed, valid criticisms, and I know many wrestling fans who have the same issues I do. They wish the music was on the releases (and again, I understand why PWG cuts it), and they wish the commentary was better.

You talk about the "charm" of PWG commentary. Well, I am not alone in choosing to never listen to PWG commentary, that distracts from the show. (And that's why I have no problem purchasing a tape that doesn't even have the option of commentary.) Excalibur & Disco Machine would rather tell random jokes than tell us why Wrestler A is fighting Wrestler B, and what led to this fight.

Compare it to a recent NWA Central States DVD I watched & reviewed. I had never seen NWA-CS before, but the man on commentary filled me in on all the angles, explaining why these matches were happening... and it made each match more important to me. For PWG... unless you watch all the shows (and I know a lot of you do!) you struggle to follow the storylines, because they are simply ignored, if they exist at all. PWG has some great wrestling, the second-best behind ROH in the U.S., but the promotion is lacking in other areas.

I think my critique on title changes also is not a "pointless criticism." I've seen about half of the PWG shows available from 2005, and it seems like the titles are constantly changing hands. From June through October, four different teams were tag champs!

Going back to the music... I am not aware of any promotion that actually pays for 'rights to use music.' I don't know if California law is different, or PWG is just cautious... but I am not aware of any other promotion that cuts out theme music during its shows. As I said, the title change felt ... shortchanged... because the tape cut off so quickly after Steen won the title. A backstage promo from Steen would have helped a lot.

Also, you MUST be aware that PWG DVDs have a max length of 3 hours. All that entrances would do is add more time to that and require a second disc, which would make the price of the DVDs go up. Same deal for promos.

Dude really, for anyone that bitches about anything like the intros....go to the live shows, they edit them there. I used to not like the idea. But, now, I love how the live shows have the extra added flare and everyone watching the DVD's get shortchanged.

The DVD commentaries make PWG unique, im sick of hearing boring commentaries talking about how many times a certain wrestler has won the tag team gold.

I recently won the Kobashi vs Joe dvd at ROHwrestling.com via one of Gregh's contests, but I was bored shitless by the commentators telling me what was going on in front of me. I have eyes, I know the moves, stop boring me!

Dude really, for anyone that bitches about anything like the intros....go to the live shows, they edit them there. I used to not like the idea. But, now, I love how the live shows have the extra added flare and everyone watching the DVD's get shortchanged.

Live Shows > DVD's

You DO realise DVD's are their main source of revenue and that alot of the PWG fanbase is located outside of America? (Eg UK, Germany, Canada, Australia etc)

Because they are. The entire music thing has been touched upon many times, and people need to accept the fact that entrances will be cut from the DVDs. Besides, they have no real importance to the DVDs, and they don't make or break the shows. I don't see the big deal about watching guys walking to the ring and giving high fives to people.

ChrisV wrote:They are indeed, valid criticisms, and I know many wrestling fans who have the same issues I do. They wish the music was on the releases (and again, I understand why PWG cuts it), and they wish the commentary was better.

Those fans must be real nit-picky.

ChrisV wrote:You talk about the "charm" of PWG commentary. Well, I am not alone in choosing to never listen to PWG commentary, that distracts from the show. (And that's why I have no problem purchasing a tape that doesn't even have the option of commentary.) Excalibur & Disco Machine would rather tell random jokes than tell us why Wrestler A is fighting Wrestler B, and what led to this fight.

Excalibur and Disco Machine do explain why wrestlers are feuding, and they also tell jokes. If you listen to commentary for insight, well then you are watching for the wrong reasons. It's ment to be fun and litehearted. Serious commentary always gets boring and repetitive. I'd much rather listen to someone tell jokes instead of hearing some guy go "Excalibur with the sleeper hold. What that does is it cuts off the air to the brain".

I'm also willing to bet that if you asked the fans who buy PWG DVDs, most of them would probably say they prefer the commentary by Excalibur and Disco instead of having serious commentary.

ChrisV wrote:I think my critique on title changes also is not a "pointless criticism." I've seen about half of the PWG shows available from 2005, and it seems like the titles are constantly changing hands. From June through October, four different teams were tag champs!

The title changes didn't constantly change hands during the entire year, but you have a point about them changing a lot during a short period of time. Although there where perfectly good reasons for the title changes, so it's not like they where pointless. If you didn't notice, when Tornado and Generico lost their belts Tornado wasn't around for awhile. There's obviously a good reason for that title switch. When the AXP won the belts, it was used to advance a storyline. Dragon and Richards are still champs and Arrogance have been consistent champs for 10 months.

The commentary situation doesn't bother me but some fans don't seem to enjoy it. Regardless, it's still funny to hear Disco/Excalibur calls their own matches and hear what they have to say.

As for the title changes, it's gonna happen at some point or another. The tag titles haven't been that bad this year especially since Dragon/Davey took the belts in October. All they've done is have some great matches with 2SBG's, CapeFear, and you can include Jack/Strong after this weekend. I just hope that Bosh/Lost don't win the tag titles back since I feel Dragon/Davey have made a good team and can be champs for a while

The only time entrance music would add to something would be when someone making a surprise appearance is about to come out. Take Uncanny X-Mas with Daniels/Stradlin. Paul T just said "Hit The Music" and then Chris Daniels was in the ring. Showing his entrance would have made the moment so much better.

Still, that's the ONLY time I can think of in PWG that entrance music would have added to something.

I like entrances and music. When Dragon was coming out to "Rockets on the Battlefield" that shit was menacing. When the opening harp bars hit for Arrogance, the JCC goes nuts. It doesn't matter to me whether entrances are clipped or not, but it'd be nice to have.

Rish To The Rosh wrote:The only time entrance music would add to something would be when someone making a surprise appearance is about to come out. Take Uncanny X-Mas with Daniels/Stradlin. Paul T just said "Hit The Music" and then Chris Daniels was in the ring. Showing his entrance would have made the moment so much better.

Still, that's the ONLY time I can think of in PWG that entrance music would have added to something.

That was precisely the moment I was thinking of, Rish.

I also was thinking about CM Punk as a surprise appearance in the summer.

I also think that cutting off the tape, so quickly, after Steen won the title, on this show, cut down on the impact of his win. I don't need 'the music,' per se, but the fact that PWG cuts off taping when the music hits... cuts out some of these special moments.

SoCalAndy... obviously, I am not alone in my 'pointless criticism' of PWG shows... that tells me many people agree with me about the commentary... whether you think it's a valid concern or not.

ChrisV wrote:SoCalAndy... obviously, I am not alone in my 'pointless criticism' of PWG shows... that tells me many people agree with me about the commentary... whether you think it's a valid concern or not.

Dragon said it best:

What do you say to people who don't think PWG is funny, and watch your DVD